Dirty Wars

by Jeremy Scahill

  333 McChrystal knew how to promote: Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, July 8, 2010.

  333 “facilitators,” “suspected militants”: Open Society Foundations and The Liaison Office, “The Cost of Kill/Capture: Impact of the Night Raid Surge on Afghan Civilians,” September 19, 2011.

  334 important promotion: Jerome Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid in Afghanistan That Killed Five,” Times (UK), March 13, 2010.

  334 newborn son: “Man Loses Five Family Members in Disputed NATO Raid,” CNN Afghanistan Crossroads (blog), CNN.com, April 6, 2010.

  334 sixth day of a child’s life: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010.

  334 two dozen people, three musicians: Jerome Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid in Afghanistan,” Times Online (UK), April 5, 2010.

  334 “We invited many guests”: Author interview, Mohammed Tahir, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Mohammed Tahir are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

  334 not ethnic Pashtun: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010. Details about the family and the night of the raid are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

  334 main light: “Man Loses Five Family Members in Disputed NATO Raid.”

  334 lasers scoping the grounds: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010.

  335 both hit by sniper rounds: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

  335 “When my father went down”: Author interview, Abdul Ghafar, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Abdul Ghafar are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

  335 “When I ran outside”: Author interview, Mohammed Sabir, October 2010.

  335 pregnant: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010. Early press reports, namely, the reporting of Jerome Starkey, also stated that two of the women were pregnant.

  335 sixteen children among them: Richard A. Oppel Jr., “U.S. Admits Role in February Killing of Afghan Women,” New York Times, April 4, 2010.

  336 prepared burial shrouds: Jerome Starkey, “Nato Accused of Cover Up over Killing of Pregnant Women,” Scotsman, March 13, 2010.

  336 handcuffing them: Author copy of “briefing note” by United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Human Rights unit, dated February 14, 2010.

  336 barefoot, on a brutal winter morning, their hands tied: Ibid.

  336 assaulted by the US and Afghan team: Ibid. According to the UNAMA briefing note, “The same witness reported having seen at least 10 people, including the 65 year old house owner, being seriously assaulted by US and Afghan Forces.”

  336 “They told us that they were informed”: Author interview, Hajji Sharabuddin, October 2010.

  337 “suffered from cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment”: UNAMA briefing note. All information attributed to the UN is from this report, unless otherwise noted.

  338 “hidden in an adjacent room”: “Joint Force Operating in Gardez Makes Gruesome Discovery,” ISAF Joint Command, February 12, 2010, accessed December 1, 2012, www.dvidshub.net/news/45240/joint-force-operating-gardez-makes-gruesome-discovery#.UOLyVBzKZcQ.

  338 “criminals and terrorists”: “Afghan, International Force Kills Enemy Fighters,” American Forces Press Service, February 12, 2010.

  338 men, women and children, medical support: “Joint Force Operating in Gardez Makes Gruesome Discovery.”

  338 “It has the earmarks”: “Bodies Found Gagged, Bound After Afghan ‘Honor Killing,’” CNN.com, February 12, 2010.

  338 Paktia Province police chief: Rob Norland, “Afghanistan: Different Accounts Offered About Civilian Deaths,” New York Times, February 13, 2010.

  338 deep cuts and puncture wounds: Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Abdul Waheed Wafa, “Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid,” New York Times, April 5, 2010.

  338 inaccurate, falsified tip-off: Lemar Niazai, “Intelligence Official Among Five Killed by NATO Troops,” Pajhwok Afghan News, February 12, 2010.

  339 “We strongly condemn this”: Amir Shah, “NATO: Raid Killed Militants; Family Says Civilians,” Associated Press, February 12, 2010.

  339 barred from entering: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

  339 “wouldn’t let us come near”: Laura King, “Probe Targets Elite Unit; an Inquiry into a Raid That Killed Five Afghan Civilians May Shed Light on the Role of U.S. Special Forces,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2010.

  339 top criminal investigator: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

  339 “extraordinary and intriguing story”: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Jerome Starkey come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

  340 denied having been a part of: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

  340 “This operation was a mistake”: Starkey, “Nato Accused of Cover Up over Killing of Pregnant Women.”

  340 should have left information: Ibid.

  341 “You don’t have to be fired upon”: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

  341 “categorically false”: “ISAF Rejects Cover Up Allegation,” International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), March 13, 2010, accessed December 12, 2012, www.dvidshub.net/news/46637/isaf-rejects-cover-up-allegation#.UOL9RhzKZcQ.

  341 “Called up rival outlets”: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 294.

  341 “The tapes, do not exist”: Jerome Starkey, “U.S.-led Forces in Afghanistan Are Committing Atrocities, Lying and Getting Away with It,” Nieman Watchdog (blog), March 22, 2010, www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00440.

  341 “I don’t want money”: Jerome Starkey, “Survivors of Family Killed in Afghanistan Raid Threaten Suicide Attacks,” Times (London), March 15, 2010.

  342 “naming of a newborn child”: Ibid.

  342 “I want the killers brought to justice”: Ibid.

  342 General McChrystal had decided: Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Rod Norland, “U.S. Is Reining in Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan,” New York Times, March 15, 2010.

  342 “ever know how they died”: Ibid.

  342 “burn ourselves to death”: Ibid.

  343 “joint force firing at the men”: “Gardez Investigation Concludes,” International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF), April 4, 2010, accessed December 12, 2012, www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/gardez-investigation-concludes.html.

  344 “soldiers dug bullets out”: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

  344 “There was a mess”: Oppel Jr. and Wafa, “Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid.”

  344 “simply is no evidence”: Ibid.

  344 “operational control”: Gareth Porter and Ahmad Walid Fazly, “U.S.: McChrystal’s Special Ops Probe Excluded Key Eyewitnesses,” Inter Press Service News Agency, July 6, 2010.

  344 “no evidence of a cover-up”: Ibid.

  344 personally travel: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010.

  345 “When people come to your gate”: Jerome Starkey, “US Army Chief Begs Afghans to Forgive,” Times (London), April 12, 2010.

  345 “an ancient Afghan ritual”: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010.

  345 “Sir, you and I are very different, this awful tragedy”: Jerome Starkey, “US Army Chief Begs Afghans to Forgive.”

  345 Almost $30,000: Julius Kavendish, “US Special Forces Apologise for Botched Night Raid,” Independent (UK), April 9, 2010.

  346 accepted McRaven’s apology: Nick Shifrin and Aleem Agha, “U.S. Vice Admiral Apologizes for Afghan Deaths,” ABCNews.go.com, April 8, 20
10.

  347 “those damn acts of war”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton (Ret.), March 2011.

  347 “scold you in the morning”: Hastings, The Operators, p. 175.

  347 75 percent increase: Phil Stewart, “Civilian Casualties Rising in Afghanistan,” Reuters, May 12, 2010.

  347 “In the nine-plus months”: Justin Elliott, “Gen. McChrystal: We’ve Shot ‘An Amazing Number of People’ Who Were Not Threats,” TPMMuckraker, April 2, 2010.

  348 1,000 night raids a month: Gareth Porter, “New Light Shed on US’s Night Raids,” Asia Times Online, September 27, 2010.

  348 “automatically categorized, as insurgents”: Gareth Porter, “True Believer: Petraeus and the Mythology of Afghanistan,” Truthout, December 20, 2012.

  348 “encouraging the people, hatred against Americans”: Author interview, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Mullah Zaeef come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

  348 since 2005: “Mullah Zaeef Freed from Guantanamo,” Dawn.com, September 12, 2005.

  348 longest-running war: Thomas Nagorski, “Editor’s Notebook: Afghan War Now Country’s Longest,” ABCNews.go.com, June 7, 2010.

  348 passed the 1,000 mark: James Dao and Andrew W. Lehren, “Grim Milestone: 1,000 Americans Dead,” New York Times, May 18, 2010.

  348 more than 900: Gareth Porter, “Petraeus Spin on IED War Belied by Soaring Casualties,” Inter Press Service News Agency, September 9, 2010.

  349 “remarkable career in uniform”: Transcript, “Statement by the President in the Rose Garden,” June 23, 2010.

  349 pace of night raids increased: Gareth Porter, “True Believer: Petraeus and the Mythology of Afghanistan,” Truthout, December 20, 2012.

  349 air strikes resumed: Julian E. Barnes, “Petraeus Resets Afghan Airstrike Rules,” Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2010.

  349 civilian death toll mounted: David S. Cloud, “Afghan Civilian Deaths Caused by Allied Forces Rise,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2010.

  36: The Year of the Drone

  350 “There’s no daylight”: Author interview, Hunter (pseudonym), August 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Hunter come from the author’s interview.

  351 at least three entities: Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State (New York: Little, Brown, 2012), p. 204.

  351 “parallel, more cloistered process”: Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” New York Times, May 29, 2012.

  351 little oversight: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 205.

  351 “more complex and risky strikes”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

  351 At least twice a month: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 209.

  351 “was really more than one”: Ibid., p. 207.

  351 personally signing off: President Obama would not necessarily sign off on every operation right before it happened, but he would sometimes approve the concepts of operations in advance. See Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011), p. 235: “Cognizant that some high-profile terrorist might pop up only briefly and then vanish, [Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates created a system where options for potential types of missions were discussed with the president in advance so that the commander in chief could delegate authority beforehand to strike fleeting targets.”

  351 “secret ‘nominations’ process”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

  352 “groomed”: Author interview, JSOC sources, June 2012.

  352 Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

  352 “conducting the most aggressive”: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 121.

  353 “If John Brennan is the last guy”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

  353 “Their policy is to take out”: Ibid.

  353 “the politically advantageous thing”: Ibid.

  354 “perhaps the most remarkable surprise”: Jack Goldsmith, Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), Introduction, p. x.

  354 refused to release its findings: Catherine Herridge, “Obama Administration Pressed for Accountability After Americans Killed in Anti-Terror Airstrikes,” FoxNews.com, October 25, 2011.

  354 “This is an easy one”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

  354 This program rests on the personal legitimacy”: Ibid.

  354 “where people are being killed”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012.

  354 sixty countries to seventy-five countries: Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe, “U.S. ‘Secret War’ Expands Globally as Special Operations Forces Take Larger Role,” Washington Post, June 4, 2010.

  354 4,000 people: Ibid.

  354 “Special Operations capabilities”: Ibid.

  354 “will not merely respond”: Transcript, “Remarks by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan at CSIS,” May 26, 2010.

  355 “ongoing unilateral actions”: Author interview, Special Operations source, June 2010.

  355 “things that the previous administration”: DeYoung and Jaffe, “U.S. ‘Secret War’ Expands Globally as Special Operations Forces Take Larger Role.”

  37: Driving Anwar Awlaki to Hell

  356 “We advise you”: Reuters, “Yemen’s al-Qaeda Calls for Jihad Against Jews, Christians,” Times of Oman, February 8, 2010.

  356 United States struck again: Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Robert F. Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents,” New York Times, August 14, 2010.

  356 “A US strike targeted our brother”: “Al-Jazeera Airs Audio Confirming Al-Qai’dah Deaths in Yemen,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, May 17, 2010.

  356 “Brigade of the martyr”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

  356 “ongoing counterterrorism cooperation”: Press release, “Undersecretary of Defense Visits Yemen,” Embassy of the United States, Sana’a, Yemen, March 22, 2010, http://yemen.usembassy.gov/udv3.html.

  356 closed-door briefing: Congressional Record—Daily Digest, April 29, 2010, US Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-04-29/pdf/CREC-2010-04-29-pt1-PgD460.pdf#page=2.

  356 internal e-mail: Author copy of e-mail.

  357 president green-lit a strike: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 255.

  357 struck a convoy of vehicles: Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam, “Air Strike Kills Yemen Mediator,” Reuters, May 25, 2010.

  357 his cousin Ayad: Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes, and Margaret Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2011.

  357 “on a mediation mission”: “Yemen Strike Kills Mediator, Tribesmen Hit Pipeline,” Reuters, May 25, 2010.

  357 Supreme Security Council apologized: “Air Raid Kills Yemeni Mediator,” AlJazeera.com, May 25, 2010.

  357 attacked the main oil pipeline: Ibid.

  357 “We think we got played”: Entous, Barnes, and Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike.”

  357 “How could this have happened?”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 255.

  358 shift from JSOC’s Tomahawk strikes: Entous, Barnes, and Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike.”

  358 “The drones are flying over Marib”: Jeb Boone, Abdul-Aziz Oudah, and Shuaib M. al-Mosawa,
“Marib Sheikh: US Drones Fly over Wadi Abida Every Day,” Yemen Observer, October 28, 2010, www.yobserver.com/front-page/10020035.html.

  358 “At the end of the day”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

  358 series of US strikes: Hush Tomlinson, Michael Evans, and Iona Craig, “‘Secret’ US War on al-Qaeda in Yemen Killing Civilians,” Times (UK), December 9, 2010.

  358 “It is incredibly dangerous”: Laura Kasinof, “US Cluster Bombs in Yemen: The Right Weapon in Al Qaeda Fight?” Christian Science Monitor, June 7, 2010.

  359 bold raid: BBC News, “Yemen Gunmen in Deadly Raid on Aden Security Service HQ,” BBC.co.uk, June 19, 2010.

  359 launched a dozen attacks: Christopher Boucek, “The Evolving Terrorist Threat in Yemen,” CTC Sentinel 3 (9) (September 2010).

  359 use of “motorbikes in terrorist operations”: “Yemen Bans Motorcycles in Qaida-Infested Abyan,” Xinhua, September 16, 2010.

  359 “in retaliation to American cruise missiles”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Message from Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki to the American people,” YouTube video, 14:59, from a videotape released by Al-Malahem Media in March 2010, posted by “0109vip,” March 3, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrdK6m9TKf8.

  360 “the agency lacked specific evidence”: David Ignatius, “For Lack of Hard Evidence, a Terrorist Evaded Capture,” Washington Post, March 26, 2010.

  360 “the Americans want to kill you”: Transcript, “Interview: Anwar al-Awlaki,” AlJazeera.com, February 7, 2010.

  361 “circling our valley twenty-four hours”: Author interview, Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to bin Fareed are from the author’s interview.

  362 “The First and Exclusive Meeting”: “Anwar Al Awlaki Al Malahem Interview [FULL] ENGLISH Translation,” YouTube video, 45:27, from interview with Anwar al Awlaki by Al-Malahem Media, May 23, 2010, posted by “EastLdnMuslima,” March 19, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7o_PQkqntg&playnext=1&list=PLcFlly8jyVa04CYWvx-S9dYvik4J9NiBsy&feature=results_main.